Greetings everyone! Happy Feast of Corpus Christi!
What a full but beautiful week it has been! Last week Saturday, John and I went to a Sister professing her final vows, and it was beautiful and she said the vows and received her ring, becoming a beautiful bride of Christ! It made me reflect upon the absolutely beautiful love of Christ that is so real and so alive and truly worth giving our whole lives to!
Sunday I spent the day at Dulce Nombre Parish, where I spent time with Fr. Julio and much time with the Sisters, the Oblates of Divine Love, who live next to Dulce Nombre Parish, and one Sister in particular, Sister Pedrina I talked to a lot, and she is very fun and full of life, and loves to practice her English (or attempt to pronounce some English words, and usually just laughing at how it sounds)! I also got the chance to spend some time with a priest from El Salvador who was visiting and it was especially interesting talking with him about his priesthood and life in El Salvador, as he was in seminary during the time of the Civil War in El Salvador. I visited some of the Catechesis classes with him, as him and I were both "visitors" of Dulce Nombre Parish, and I very much enjoyed watching him in action, teaching the children with such a gentle spirit of love, but seemed to show such a deep sense of wisdom.
Monday, I headed out to Delisius where I spent time with Ivan, who is a catechist there, and his brother Mario and there families. I was surprised to discover that Delisius, unlike Zapote, has electricity, and most of the houses have TV's as well! This came in handy on Wednesday when we watched some of the USA vs. Panama soccer game, in the Semifinals for the Gold Cup in Houston, Texas. We also watched the first half of the Honduras vs. Mexico game!
I also had an interesting cultural experience of food this week in Delisius as well! I was eating a dish that they called Indian Chicken Soup...as I was eating I found a particularly round thing, that looked like meat. When asking what it was, my worst fears were confirmed as they informed me that it was the testicle of a rooster. Needless to say, I was very hesitant to try it, but they got a good laugh out of my fear of it. They got an even bigger laugh when I informed them that in the United States, when someone is scared of something, we say that they are "chicken" and so I was "chicken" of the chicken. After much laughing and me trying to persuade someone else to eat it for me, and convincing someone to take half of it, I ended up trying it...I will say it was quite the cultural experience...
Anyways, in Delisius I also visited a couple of their Ecclesial Base communities, to see some of their faith life. I also worked some in the field with Ivan and I picked some plantains in the Finca with Mario. I also taught Ivan and Mario's kids a little of my own culture by teaching them how to do Finger Fencing (for those of you who don't know what that is, it is a game where you hold hands and both try to touch the other person's body with your finger...it is quite a fun game, and they enjoyed it very much).
On Thursday I returned to the beautiful aldea of Zapote, and I worked in field with my good friend Jose (same Jose whom I have mentioned before in previous blogs), as well as with two new people, Nahum and Erli. We worked to clear the weeds out of a field with acerdones (basically, like garden hoes, but bigger and sharpened). This field was to be a beanfield for the Parish of Dulce Nombre...basically, their form of tithing...instead of necessarily donating a lot of money, since they do not have a lot of money, each aldea has a community field that they donate the food from to the parish. So we were truly doing work for the church!
Also, they wanted to hear a song in English as we were working, so I ended up singing a few of my favorite pop songs, namely "Hey Soul Sister" by Train, and "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, as well as a little of Taio Cruz's "Dyanamite."
Thursday night I visited another Ecclesial Base Community, and as Jose and I walked back in the pouring rain, we found, in the middle of the path a CRAB! I couldn't believe it...I thought crabs only lived in places with large bodies of water, such as oceans or seas, or large lakes, but here we were in the middle of the Honduran mountains, and there is a crab walking along! I just thought it was amazing to see a crab in the wild, and thought that was a neat experience, but what Jose saw was lunch! He picked up the crab and when I asked him what he was going to to with it he said "I am going to eat it." He took it home to his family and a few days later they had a nice meal of cooked crabmeat!
All day Friday, and Satruday morning was a training session for the Catechists of the parish (led by John himself, the John who I have been living with here in Santa Rosa...so it was neat to see him in action). It was basically a training session teaching them how to Evangelize and invite other adults into the Catholic Church, and the process that goes along with becoming Catholic. It was very interesting and I learned a lot!
Saturday afternoon was all preparation for the big celebration of Corpus Christi, where the Church in Zapote was going to be receiving Christ in the Eucharist into their tabernacle. Thus, we pulled lots of pine needles off of pine branches which they used to cover the floor in the church (apparantly this is very common for big celebrations, for the look as well as for the smell...it beautifully reminded me of Christmas, as the whole Church smelled like one big Christmas tree!). We also made a pathway down the center aisle out of pine saw dust, in which they drew pictures of the chalice and host, as well as a big cross. (NOTE that as my computer currently is out of commission right now, so I have been using John's I have not been able to post any pictures, otherwise I would have posted picture...so hopefully I will get that fixed and be able to post pictures for you all)!
Then today we celebrated Mass! The church was packed as we had people from many different aldeas, in addition to all the people of Zapote! At the end of Mass there was a Eucharistic procession where we stopped to pray at four different altars they had built outside, each adorned and decorated with flowers! It was absolutely beautiful and moving and as we walked, and as we followed the priest and Christ in the Eucharist, I was reminded on how it must have been like when Jesus walked as a human upon the earth, and the crowds followed Him, with such wonder, seeking something, with such hope, some following out of mere curiosity, others because of faith in who He was, but regardless crowds of people seeking Him and following Him. And as some reached out to touch the monstrance as it passed I was reminded of the story of the diseased woman who had such faith that she thought if she merely touch the hem of His cloak, she would be healed, and as the crowds pressed in around Christ, she made her way through just to brush the hem of His cloak!
It was an absolutely beautiful day, and I have much reflecting and praying to do over all that has happened! I have been learning so much about faith, God, myself, life, society, God's call, justice, and much more. I have been growing so much, and God has certainly been teaching much to me through the faith of the people here!
Tomorrow John and I go to San Pedro Sula to PICK UP JARRETT!!!!! WOOOOOOOTTT!!!! I'm super excited to see Jarrett and to be able to share this experience with him. Please keep him in your prayers for safe travel, as well as for his heart to be opened to all that God has to teach him from this experience! Pray that he may be filled with the Holy Spirit to proclaim Christ's love with His very life, with the way he lives, in a way that transcends all language!
I'm praying for you Jarrett, and know I greatly look forward to you coming!
Peace and love of Christ be with you all! And remember to seek God's love in every moment in every way, and that this is a love worth living for, for His love is Life itself!
Kevin
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